Unilever To Keep Expanding In China Despite Global Downsizing Plans, CEO Says

Unilever’s plans to lay off 2,000 employees and reduce its personal care product range by 10 percent will not affect its expansion plans in China, according to company CEO Paul Polman. Facing a slowdown in the personal care market, which is also affecting its main rivals Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and Johnson & Johnson, the company aims to cut costs by $683 million in 2014. In the third quarter of 2013, Unilever’s global sales grew 3.2 percent to €12.5 billion, compared with 5.9 percent in the same quarter in 2012. Sales in emerging markets, which account for 40 percent of the company’s sales, grew 6.2 percent, compared with 10.7 percent in the same quarter in the previous year.